


An Unfortunate Day

by AniFre101



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Cafe AU, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:19:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3529133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AniFre101/pseuds/AniFre101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke is fired from his current job. Rin decides to help him out and hire him at his cafe. Sousuke isn’t used to the friendly atmosphere and some picky customers but it’s a job nonetheless. One rainy day on valentine’s, he notices a beautiful man with stunning green eyes waiting outside of the cafe. After a couple hours, he decides to see why the guy has been waiting for so long for. He sees to his shock that this guy is crying.</p><p>Makoto has been asked out on a date for valentine’s day and it rains to his disappointment. He waits in front of a cafe for three hours and realizes the humiliation of being stood up on a date. To his rescue comes a brooding man with teal eyes that offers him hot chocolate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unfortunate Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off of my posts on tumblr and I wanted to write it out. The post itself seems so adorable and I really wanted to write a cute cafe au (if I can try to finish it).

Sousuke grumbles under his breath as he changes into a black collar shirt, tucking them into his black slacks. He finds his tie next and loops it over his head to place it around his neck.

“You know, the uniform looks good on you, for someone who hates customer services.” Nitori takes note.

“Shut up. I’m only here because Rin gave me a position.” Sousuke looks at the mirror, fixing the tie. He’s dressed in black attire with a white apron on the front. It’s suitable for a barista and the workers as well. He really loathes these kind of formal attires.

And today is a special holiday. Sousuke sighs when he looks at the calendar. “Why today of all days?”

“It can’t be helped. A lot of cute couples will be coming in today!” Nitori smiles.

“That’s good and all, but I hate this kind of job.” Sousuke sighs. He remembers that Rin is out on a date so he has to help fill in for him. Just the thought of it makes him not even want to work and go home to drink his booze. But otherwise, he owes Rin so he can at least do this much.

They hear the sound of rushing footsteps and they see a bright orange head coming in enthusiastically. “Sorry I’m late! I got caught in traffic. It’s raining outside!”

“How bad is it?” Nitori asks, slightly curious.

“Not so bad, but maybe later it’ll be sunny!” Momotarou goes to change into his uniform.

Sousuke thinks that Momotarou brings enough sunshine as it is and he goes to set up the small cafe he works in with Nitori and Momotarou. He sees the sign, written by the shorter male in their work group in pretty penmanship. It says “Welcome and happy valentine’s day” in beautiful cursive. He carries the sign and brings it to the front. He notices that the rain is light so it will probably get better later. He sets the sign outside at a good and reasonable angle.

He suddenly notices two people coming towards him out of the corner of his eye.

“Excuse me!!!”

Sousuke turns to see two girls. He thinks that they’re around high school age. It feels nostalgic, having to be at a young age from a long time ago. He almost sighs, but he smiles. “Yes, what is it?”

“Uh, um-” The stuttering one has long brown hair with a rabbit clip holding one side up. Her friend stands next to her and encouraging her by elbowing the girl in the back. The brown haired girl holds out a box in red wrapping with a blue ribbon. “T-this is for you!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your feelings.” Sousuke politely declines with a small smile.

“Please, take it! I do admire you, but you don’t have to like me!” She smiles brightly.

“If you insist. Thank you.” Sousuke smiles as he takes the chocolate. He watches her and her friend leave happily. He wonders just how many of these he’s going to get instead of customers.

Sousuke walks back inside. He sees Momo, happily setting up the coffee dispenser. He walks up to him and taps him on the shoulder with the box of chocolates. “Here. Eat it.”

“Wha- Oh, chocolate! Thank you!!!” Momotarou happily takes it without questioning though he’s surprised.

“Where’d you get it?” Nitori appears with a tray of pastries.

“A couple of high school girls gave it to me.” Sousuke shrugs. “I’m not going to eat it so it’s better if you guys take them.”

“Much obliged! So yummy!!!” Momotarou grins as he eats a truffle in one bite.

“Don’t eat too much or you’ll get a stomachache!” Nitori warns as he carefully sets the pastries into the counter. There’s a lot of designs, with the majority in heart shapes.

The cafe is small with seven tables and each of them have two or three chairs. The wallpaper is simply white with a photo picturing artwork from Rin’s friends. Their cafe sits on a corner near an intersection, seeing cars come and go along with people crossing the streets.

Sousuke hears the sound of the jingle of the bell going off and he spots their very first customer. He puts on his best smile and he greets the customer, “Welcome.”

“H-Hi, table for two, please.” The customer states with a slight blush and smile. She’s holding onto the arm of her boyfriend, who seems slightly intimidated by Sousuke’s height.

“Sit anywhere you like.” Sousuke directs and he thinks to himself that it’ll be a long day.

Since the cafe is small, Sousuke, Nitori, and Momotarou have their stations. Sousuke takes over the floor, taking orders. Momotarou makes the drinks and cashiers. Nitori delivers food and drinks to the tables. They can all cashier, but just one takes over. They help each other if one is busy making what. It’s simply team work.

Sousuke directs the next couple to a table, and out of the corner of his eye, he spots someone, standing just outside. He notes how tall he is, but Sousuke is taller. The other man outside doesn’t appear to be coming in any time soon so he tends to whoever needs to order.

“Excuse me, s-sir!!!”

Sousuke directs his attention to two women, slightly older than the two girls from this morning. The shy one has shorter hair and she’s smiling as she holds out a box. Her friend next to her giggles. “Here, for you!”

“I’m sorry, I can’t accept your feelings.” Sousuke declines again.

“Oh, uh, it’s fine. This chocolate is for you. Please take it.” The woman declares as she looks away with her face red.

“Thank you.” Sousuke takes the box and he watches the two women leave with not much of a fuss. The box in his hand increases yet again.

Another hour and another passes by with a wave of customers. Sousuke is surprised with how busy it is when he starts to make drinks along side with Momotarou, who does his best. Since all the tables are full, Sousuke just helps at the front. There’s a line of customers waiting for pastries and drinks. Nitori appears with a tray of food each time when they’re close to running out.

Thankfully, the customers do not ask too much. They mainly like to order drinks and eat the food (also starring at the main attraction, which Sousuke catches all the time). Sousuke is glad that it’s a simple cafe.

Sousuke happens to look outside again and he sees the same man, standing outside. Sousuke takes note of the man’s appearance, such as brown hair. It looks as though he’s wearing a black jacket and dark blue jeans. Sousuke wonders who this man is waiting for since he’s been there for two hours now.

Then, the realization kicks in. The poor guy is…

“Sousuke, I’m tired!” Momotarou suddenly complains in a whisper as he sighs. He rolls shoulders from the tension.

“It’ll be a couple more hours till we close. Hang in there.” Sousuke pats the orange head on the back. His eyes travel back to the man outside. He suddenly feels sorry for him and he decides to make hot chocolate.

“Who ordered that?” Momotarou asks, eying Sousuke on the side.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on me.” Sousuke pours it into a white mug and he heads to the door. Opening it, he is about to shout when he notices something. The man, standing not so far away, has a pair of beautiful green eyes and they appear to be glassy.

“Oh, um, I’m sorry… I know I’ve been standing here for awhile, but I’m waiting for my…” The man is refraining from choking back on his tears. He couldn’t look at Sousuke in the eye as he looks to the ground. “I’ll-”

“Here and come inside. It’s cold out here.” Sousuke opens the door while holding the mug of hot chocolate.

There’s only silence as they both hear the sound of rain coming down. The green eyed man takes the hot chocolate and he begins to cry. Sousuke is slightly surprised and he takes in the crying man inside. He directs him further inside, ignoring Nitori and Momotarou’s questions. Passing the kitchen, there’s a flight of stairs and he takes the green eyed man further up, leading to a door on the far end of the hallway. Opening it, he and the other comes walking in.

The room is simple with a bed on one side with a coffee table in front of it. A desk sits adjacent on the  side of the room and the other side of the room has a shelf full of books.

“You can sit on the bed and calm down. There’s only two hours left of work and I’ll come back to…” Sousuke isn’t sure of what else to say. It’s odd that he’s even bringing this guy upstairs into his room. “To help with anything else.”

“T-thank you.” The much shorter man states, sniffling as he takes a sip. He sits down on the bed.

“Well, um, I’ll be back. Make yourself comfortable.” Sousuke leaves abruptly, closing the door after him, and he quickly heads back down.

*****

After two hours, Nitori puts out the closing sign on the door and brings back the folded one inside. There’s a few customers left, but they leave soon after. Momotarou cleans up the coffee dispenser as Sousuke brooms up the trash on the floor. He decides to wipe the tables with a clean wet towel. Nitori does the other half of the tables.

“So, um, is that guy a friend of yours?” Nitori asks.

“No.”

“Then…?”

“I don’t know, but I’m helping him.” Sousuke cuts it short, quickly cleaning up. “You guys can go after you’re done.

“Thank you and good work today!!!” Momotarou chides brightly. He’s cheerful as ever. There isn’t any problems today. There is a small rush, but it isn’t too bad. It’s a good day, despite the rain and holiday.

“You’ve certainly got admirers, Sousuke. So many boxes.” Nitori giggles as he smiles, eying the chocolates on the counter.

“Take as many as you want since I’m not eating them. I only said ‘yes’ just to be polite. Some even confessed too.” Sousuke sighs, feeling tired from the female and some male customers confessing to him. Some of them even left phone numbers.

“If you say so. Maybe we should leave some for your friend upstairs since he hasn’t been coming down.” Nitori takes the biggest box in the pile.

“He’ll be happier that way too.” Momotarou takes three boxes.

They finish cleaning. After the two leaves, Sousuke locks up. He sees only two boxes left and they’re small. He’s glad that Momotarou and Nitori takes some of the chocolates. He couldn’t possibly eat all of them. He wonders if the man with green eyes want some as well. He even wonders if he’s still crying.

Sousuke heads up the flight of steps after changing into his jeans and black t-shirt. He heads to his room, and he sees the once crying man has fallen asleep on his bed. He sees the mug on the table and to his satisfaction, the man has finished the hot chocolate.

Stepping in further, Sousuke walks over, tapping the other on the shoulder lightly. “Hey, wake up.”

The other slightly grumbles and Sousuke notices the streaks of tears on the other’s face. He appears to have cried a lot while Sousuke is working down below. The brunette starts to sit up and he stretches a bit. He appears to have remembered where he is and he looks down immediately as though in shame. “I-I’m sorry that you had to see me like this!”

Sousuke notes the blush on the other’s face and finding it cute. He waves the apology off as he sits on his desk chair. “Hey, it’s fine. Are you ok? Feeling better?”

“A… bit, yes.” The man answers, hunching his shoulders, tightening his legs with his hands under his thighs. He looks small for some reason.

“You’re not… Hey, do you want this?” Sousuke holds out a box in white wrapping with a pink ribbon on it.

“O-oh, s-sure, I guess.” The other slightly looks up at the box in front of him and takes it. He seems to be searching for something and he takes it out of his pocket. It’s another box, wrapped in green with a dark blue ribbon. He hands it to Sousuke. “We can trade.”

“Sure.” Sousuke takes it. He feels awful and pity for the guy, sitting not too far away. He’s pretty attractive. What awful being ditched the guy and made him stood up in front of a cafe for five hours? He wants to kill whoever it is that stood up…!

“Makoto.”

“What?” Sousuke breaks out of his thoughts and stares back at the other on his bed.

“I’m Makoto Tachibana. What’s your name?” The brunette, Makoto, sounds like he’s tired. His eyes are still red, and he has a weak smile on his face.

“Sousuke Yamazaki.” Sousuke decides to unwrap the chocolate box and to his astonishment, the chocolates are dark. He’s glad. He isn’t too fond of sweets.

“Those were meant for my date, but as you can see… he never showed up.” Makoto explains all of a sudden. He has opened the box and starts to eat the chocolate inside. He has a small smile yet his eyes reflect the hurt look on his face.

“Oh uh, I’m sorry to hear that, Makoto.” Sousuke eats one piece and sets the box down on the table. “Did you want to talk about it?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can bring myself to talk about it.” Makoto smiles apologetically. “I’m hurt, but for now, it’s better to not think about it so much.”

“True…” Sousuke isn’t sure of anything else. He just wants to find out about the jerk who stood up Makoto. He looks at the box and these kind of chocolates are even brought with care. If Makoto can bake, the guy even takes consideration of how sweet the chocolates turn out to be. This sad angel deserves so much more.

“Um, do you… want dinner?”

The question interrupts Sousuke’s train of thought as he looks at the man with green eyes. “What?”

“Did you want dinner? It’s on me… since you brought me inside from the rain and…” Makoto seems to have stopped himself from finishing since he’s looking away with a slight blush on his face.

 **  
**Sousuke isn’t sure of what the blush meant, but he figures that Makoto means well. He smirks. “Sure, dinner would be great."


End file.
